IT is difficult to guess what the future holds for education in the Wharfe Valley.

Bradford has now decided that the best way to deliver education to our children is to farm the services out to the private sector. In reality there was no choice. The dismal failure of Bradford's education system is there for all to see.

In some ways this development is worrying. Not so many years ago so many far-sighted philanthropists fought extremely hard to get education under Government control because it was quite obvious that private enterprise was leaving the majority of the population ignorant.

But maybe the world has changed and it might be better to inject some tough business efficiency into the politically-correct cloud cuckoo land inhabited by some local authority education officials.

In a bid to boost efficiency the vast sums of money due to be paid to Serco QAA will only be delivered if results improve.

But Ilkley's results are fine, It is the rest of the district that needs a shot in the arm. If Serco has to improve results, once again we will have education officials necessarily having to concentrate resources and attention in other areas.

Will this mean the Wharfe Valley once again being turned into an impoverished backwater when it comes to sharing out education resources, and our teachers, governors and parents pleading to deaf ears for money to run their schools?

The privatisation move might be a good thing for education in the district as a whole, but Ilkley's unique position means that what is good for the whole might not necessarily be good for all its parts.

What we really need is the Wharfe Valley is an education delivery system that rewards success. It just might encourage the rest of the district to follow Ilkley's example.